<a class="postlink" href="http://i.imgur.com/aS1J2.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://i.imgur.com/aS1J2.png</a> I thought this could be an interesting thread. Some of that advice we've seen over and over again. I think of college these days as more of laying groundwork to a professional network, learning basic professional skills and satisfying intellectual curiosity, drenched in beer and meaningless sex. Focus: Things I learned in college that I feel like passing on...
On the more serious side: intern, intern intern. If you want to leave with a decent job make sure you intern your second and third summers and have a graduate role lined up before you graduate. Yes there is obviously a million exceptions to the rule but someone who does the above sets themselves up in a far greater position than those who graduate without a job.
Fuck that- never wrap full stop. Providing you avoid sex with at risk groups thanks to the wonders of modern medicine the STI's which you are at risk of can be cured with one tablet. One tablet!
...and babies, should they be conceived, can be sucked out with some sort of vacuum machine. SOME SORT OF VACUUM MACHINE!
When working with groups, work hard, never skimp. Your peer's perception of you is essential to networking with them. Once labelled a slacker or moocher by your peers, that label sticks, and no one is going to hire or recommend that loser. If you want to half-ass your own work then do it, you are only penalizing yourself, but don't fuck over your groupmates, because that shit gets around to others, hence a negative perception.
-Make sure to make good friends with the guy that comes to school with a car. -If you are that guy, make sure to look out for that guy only being friends with you because you have a car. -You are not in love with 'the one.'
Show up for class and get to know your teachers. If a teacher knows who you are and has the perception you're making an effort the more likely they are to help you out with extending a deadline, making up missed assignments, letting you miss a class, doing extra credit, etc. Especially when it comes to the end of the semester and you need a few points to take your grade from a "B" to an "A." It won't work every time but overall it will pay off for you.
Take a real spring break, at least once. I have so many friends that worked through every spring break or spent it at a beach house in some fancy beach with no other college people anywhere. Going to a spring break destination i.e. what Cancun used to be, Panama City beach, Vegas where ever. Spring break is a crazy experience that needs to be experienced. If you go to clubs on spring break, rent a limo it’s worth it. Most clubs you get in with no cover, no wait, and girls always want to ride in a limo at the end of a night. If you throw a party themes are great. Some good theme parties I have been to were super hero/super villains, Masquerade, Pimp and Hoes, and of course the Toga. Take a psychology class even if it’s not your major, even intro to psychology can help teach you a little on how and what people really think. It is a great benefit to any carrier as well as poker. If she has a hard name and you might not remember it by the end of the night, give her a nickname she will think it’s cute and it’s easier to remember at the end of the night or in the halls at school. Denny’s or something similar all night places are great for an all night cram session. They have coffee and no late night visitors or roommates bugging you. - On a side note I have a great story about having to talk to the cops because the Super Hero Super Villains party was too loud. I was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with a toy cop car tied to my leg (it was following me around all night.)
This advice is actually a little outdated. Many undergraduate degrees now even offer podcasts of the lectures, coupled with lecture notes, reading lists and appendices all available online. So provided attendance isn't graded you could probably argue there are more efficient uses of time then attending lectures. Although obviously if your point was aimed at the unmotivated attending is probably better than not. But yeh don't wear condoms.
Bingo, even with teachers who had their lectures and daily notes online, this availability and convenience just turned into another reason to be lazy and not do the liminal amount of work needed for a decent grade. If you are a diligent self motivated person, then yeah, you could use the resources available to skip class and still do well. If you're lazy as fuck than just attending class was the easiest way to force yourself to do enough to get by.
Participate. In class, in planning social functions, in sports (even intramural)... don't be the loser that rarely sees the outside of their dorm room or that does the same thing every week for 4 years. Expanding your horizons and experiences is the single biggest thing you can get out of college. Education is largely overrated but experiences are not.
The corollary - try not to take any college relationship too seriously. Most college-aged women are incredibly confused and clueless. While the same goes for guys, guys tend to stick with the "getting drunk and laid" track until something obvious hits them upside the head. 20 year old girls are frantically trying to shoehorn their college experience and relationships into a small box that reads "What I think My life should Be". Then once they cram everything in there they discard the lid for a new one that reads "The New and improved What I Think My Life Should Be". And so on.
Never. Ever. Under any circumstances, skip a review session hosted by the TA. They write the exams and aren't as vigilant as the professor. Sitting through the review, coupled with a few probing questions can narrow the material you have to study by half or more. Last semester on an exam that was 60% of my grade I got the TA to narrow seven chapters of Electromagnetics down to four equations and a chapter. I couldn't not crush that exam after that.
Barring emergencies, I make it a rule to accept 95% of the invitations people give me to do social things. Going out to parties, barbqs, the pool, dinner, etc. Do that for two months in a densely packed social environment like college, and you will have more connections and possibilities than you know what to do with. Then you can pick and choose.
This. I aced a few classes without going to the normal lectures and only going to sessions taught by the TA. They are much more likely to stay focused on what you actually need to know to pass the test rather than what they think is interesting. Also, going to a TA during their office hours and asking the right questions is about as close as you can get to seeing the actual exam without cheating.
Piggy-backing off Fawkes and whomever mentioned interning: don't just participate, start participating early. I really didn't start participating in mentionable extracurriculars until my fourth year. Now I'm looking at grad schools and thinking that I have nothing but grades to show for my first three years. And it makes me sad. And speaking as a female, guys can be just as creepy and clingy as girls when it comes to random hook-ups. So forget going back to someone's place. You're not trying to be romantic, you're trying to fuck. Do it in one of your cars, in the parking lot at the bar or the driveway at the party, so you can drunkenly shame yourselves and move on.
The other side of the coin of course is this: Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew There are so many cool activities, organizations, intramural sports, competitions, etc. that you can easily do too much. It is easy to over extend yourself and not enjoy any of it. It is also a great way to make excuses for not performing academically. Being pledge class president isn't going to help your resume all that much if you have a 2.0 GPA. Take your first semester or two and check things out. Don't commit to a whole bunch of shit that you are really only doing for the sake of doing. Avoid Shitty Living Situations Another one that I learned the hard way. Do your best to avoid shitty roommates/housing situations. Not having a place to go home to that is reasonably enjoyable is a great way to tank a semester.
Learn to masturbate in the shower. It's much safer than having your roommate walk in on you with BBW streaming on your computer screen. If you're like me, NOW is the time to come out of your shell. College is the defining moment for most when they make friendships and memories that last forever. If you spend your 4 years playing World of Warcraft every night, it's a wasted experience and will continue into your post-collegiate career.
On the floor of the dorms I lived on we had an Indian(dot) who would jerk off in the shower everyday. The fap,fap,fap noise was quite loud. He was also OCD and would take 3 showers each day, one in each of the separate stalls which all drained to the end stall. Had to take a quick ass shower if you were stuck at the drain with him showering at same time.